BACKGROUND: . Feedback is used in rehabilitation to improve self-awareness in
people with traumatic brain injury (TBI), but there have been no comparisons of
the different methods of providing feedback. OBJECTIVE: . To compare the effect
of different methods of feedback on impaired self-awareness after TBI. METHOD: .
This was a randomized, assessor-blinded trial with concealed allocation. A total
of 54 participants with TBI and impaired self-awareness (85% male) were recruited
from inpatient and community rehabilitation settings. Participants performed a
meal preparation task on 4 occasions and were randomly assigned to 1 of 3
feedback intervention groups: video plus verbal feedback, verbal feedback, or
experiential feedback. The primary outcome was improvement in online awareness
measured by the number of errors made during task completion. Secondary outcomes
included level of intellectual awareness, self-perception of rehabilitation, and
emotional status. RESULTS: . Receiving video plus verbal feedback reduced the
number of errors more than verbal feedback alone (mean difference = 19.7 errors;
95% confidence interval [CI] = 9.2-30.1) and experiential feedback alone (mean
difference = 12.4 errors; 95% CI = 1.8-23.0). CONCLUSION: . The results suggest
that the video plus verbal feedback approach used in this study was effective in
improving self-awareness in people with TBI. The results also provide evidence
that improvement in self-awareness was not accompanied by deterioration in
emotional status.